Bottesini Project

The Allegro di Concerto "Alla Mendelssohn" is modeled after the first movement of the Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64 by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847). The harmonic outlines and contours of the themes are similar enough to correlate the two works without using any outright quotations from the Mendelssohn. Bottesini wrote an accompaniment for piano. As with some other of his works, he also made an arrangement for string quartet that is sometimes performed by a small string orchestra. However Bottesini never orchestrated his work using the same instruments as the composition by Mendelssohn he was trying to emulate.

I first performed my orchestration of the Allegro di Concerto "Alla Mendelssohn" in March of 2008 with the Southwest Symphony in Hobbs, New Mexico, and again in October 2008 with the Saddleback College Symphony Orchestra

I decided to take the parallel between the two works one step further by creating an orchestration using Mendelssohn's instrumentation and style of voicing. The orchestration process was daunting at first; to emulate Bottesini who was emulating Mendelssohn. But ultimately it came down to reverse engineering the Mendelssohn and reconstituting it with Bottesini's material. When Mendelssohn's second theme is accompanied by woodwinds, so is Bottesini's second theme. When Mendelssohn doubles certain instruments a certain way in a tutti section, the parallel Bottesini tutti is voiced the same way. I love this work and am I determined to bring it from recital programs into the solo artists' concert repertory.